Improved process and apparatus for



iiiniir ;%toiw EDWIN GARFIELD, AND JEREMY .'VV. BLISS, GEORGE W. WILLIAMS, OF SAME PLAGE.

ASSIGNORS T0 THEMSELVJS AND Lctters Patent No. 91,619, dazezl Jmze 22, 1869.

IMPROVEID PROCESS AND APPARATU'S FOR MAKING- S'.EET-IRON.

The Schedule refened to in these Lettere Patent ami xnaking part of the same.

To all whom it may concern:

Be ii: known that I, GEOBGE VEEDEN FRANCIS, cf the cityand couuty ofHartford, and State of Connecticut, worker in iro, bare iuventedeuew ami usei'ul Proccss for '1reatiug Sheet-Irou to gve the some on enamelled, or polished surfiwe, md also new md usefui nppomtus for praetising the sziuie ztud I do bereby declore thai: the following, takeu in conuection with the drawings which occompauy a'ml form part of this speeificotion, is. a. description of my inventiou sufficieut to eimble th ose skilled in the art to proctise in.

The object of my invention is the productien ci e quolity', or kud ot' sheet-ron rese'mbliug, as uearly as may be, a.ud having the peculia.r churawteristies oi' surface-tinisb, end flexibility, of the welI-kuowu Russi-o sbeet-iron.

As my inventi0n does not rei-ate to the rolling of the iron into the form ofsbeets, nor to any of the processes auterior thereto, but merely to the treatuient of the metal wbn in the sheetz-form, none of snob processes ueed be.bere described.

'lhe irou being tlxen first formed into she'ets of the required lengtb, wdth, end tbickuess, end being of "such quaiity.as may be desired for the degree ot' fiuish oud excelieuce. to be given it, my iuventiou cousists in immersing the sheets in any appropriate acid, for o suflicent length of time to loosen or remove forcigu metter -from the suri'uce, then heoting them to a degree vurying from about six hundred andfii'tj degrees (650) to zibllt eight l1uudred. aud fifty degrees (850 Fahrenheit, more or less, accordiug Lo ciroumbeen separatey heated, or heeted ouly wbist in the box) bare rdoeived the proper degree ofheat, the box (preferobiy before beiug tokeu i'rom the furuace) is to be covered by a suiteble metellio cover, to prevent, es mucb es possiblc, exposure of the contents to the action of the otmosplxere, l.ll(1 tbeu withdrzuvn from the i'uruabe, end the sheets immedntely subjeoted to the direct blows ufo set of ropially autoxnotcoiiy operoted bammeror bu-mmers, tbecover end ports beng so inrauged ami zietuzited, tbet the bammcrs tua; act

tiu-ougli the cover, ami drectly upon the eutire upper surface of the top of the pack ci sheets, end that the beat end gases shall be confiued, as far as practicable, within the box duriug the lmmmeriug-process.

T he better to convey a more accurate idea cf my process, I will now proceed to describe a simpe form of nmcbine, which will serve to illustrate cue woy in wbich t moy be practised, a-Ithough ii: will be evident that the apparatus maybe variecl in mzmy ways, a.nd yet still be odapted for practising my process- Iu thedrowings- Figure 1 represents arside view, and

Figure 2, a longtudiual vertice! sotion of such on opporotus i Figures 3 and 4represeutng, respectively, the box and one of its removable covers, or bottoms, designed forlxolding a number of sbeets to be treated, end which lie fiati; therein, encb upon the otber.

A represents a-u oveu, or fornace, ci a,ny appropriate form of constructiou sutoble for impartiug to the separeted sbeets, and to the box, orto the box zmd its coutoiued sheets, as the case umy be, the required degree of bea-t.

B ore.guide-rails, or fizmges, serving to keep the box 0 in proper postou when the sheets are under the actou of the ha.xumer or lrammers, and aiso ho guide the same when sboved iuto or withdrowu from the fornace.

The portion marked D D, immediately under the box, aud beneotb wbere the blows oftl1e lmjmmera full, shouid be made solidaud firm, of irou or other appropriate materiali, to serve the purpose of an ouvil;

end the space marked E, bet\veeu the box ami the furnoce, should be much greztter theu shown in the draw ings, in order to allow suiicientroom to swivel end lmndle the box, as hereiuat'ter stoted.

'lhs porton, or bed I), need net, ncessarily, be contnuous, :is shown in the drznviugs, bui; moy,betweeu the ouviI-portion aud' the fornace, be-opeu, (except the guides, or rails,) to 'ollow of easy occess for zmy purpose.

Tbe box C is made of strong metal, odapted for withstzmdiug the beat end the shocks to wi1ioh it umy be subjected, and is formed open, both et top end bottom, end with reiuovable pieces F, servng to close up etber sde, (or both, i'or a purpose hereinofter stztted,) the pieces F being formed, preferzibiy, wth rebotes, as showu, to secure a closer fit, zunl witb pins f, to receive o camp, or hook, o, ce eitber sicie of the box, end wbicb thus hcld the parts togetbex.

Handies G, on opposite ends of the" box, by means of opeuiugs g theren, eilow of the boxes', wben heeted, beiug shoved or puiled into or from the fornace; emi. knobs, or centres 9, on obese hzmeles, atliow the bcxe to be lited end turned over, wheueer it moy b ,ley U; carne, or wipers P P,

palle-y,

thougbt acivisable to reverse the pack, ami hammer the opposite sidey tirereof.

Any ordiuary mode of lifting, by crane, pnlleys, or otherwise, may be used for tllis purpose.

Wl1enever snob reversing of the box ami its contente s desircd, a top like F is put on; the box is then turned over, its former bottom is taken ofi', ami lire long top H, shown in figs. 1 ami 2, substit uted tbcrefor, ami the hammering resumed.

'li1is top, 01' cover H is made of flat metal, with its sicles turnecl down, as shown at 71, so as to cover the jointbet'ween it; and tl1e box, ami il: s made of sollicient lengtlx (o permit its being slidrien wlxiist on (ire box, so that the lmmmers lnay, nit-li it, traverse che lengtli of (be sheets, to operate upon the entire surface; ami is is also provided \Vlill a transverse opening, bareiy suificient to afl'ord space for che irammers to work through, to reach the top ,si1eet, tlle'corer, except ai; tiris opening, eloseiy centining the beat ami gases within the box.

I represents one of tbe beams of tbe mili, or factory, or of any other appropriate frame-work, wbich serve as snpports ior sust-aining tipe innnmer or hannners, tl1e frame for guigling t'hem, amlxievices for actuating ami feeciing tbem forwanl.

Upon aeh of two (-f snob beams, I piace a toot-lred rack, K, from whieh is suspemlerl (ire frame, or hangers L, in Wliich t-l1e hannners M M play, (of' any number desireri.)

pon ibis lranger s a sbaft, N, driven-from ts pulon the same shaft, serving, lnring its revolntions, te ift,or trip the i1annners rapirliy ami snccessively.

'lo t-l1e hangers are attaolrerl irool s Q Q, whiclx are intemlerl ho .conncciz witlr stapies E R, on the long, Sli(iing corer B, so that; as the progressive moremenfiof tbe hammers sirall positively move the cover coincident, the irammers may aiways play frcely tbrough tlre slot tberein.

Attaclled t tl1c tiavelling hangers L, are fcedingpawis S S, for feecling the bannners forward or back, as tlre case may be, these pawls being operatori, by cranks '1 l, on rock-sbai't U U,'\VlliCli reeeives motion, from tl1e rising slrai't of the irammers, tirrenglr ihe nie- (liilm of arms V V, securecl t-o sairl slxaft-s U U.

VVlien feecling in one direction, the pawl noi; needed is simply tlxrown 1ip out of contact with the rack, as shown in the figures. Tbis may be clone by a corclancl or any other simple means. ll1e lxannner-driving pulley 0, I conncct with tlxe main sbaft, or sonrce ot' pmver, by means of a knucklejointframe, so as to pernnt tl1e shai't N, Witlr che hangers on which il; is supporteci, to move to ancl from the main slrafb, without; impairing its proper revolving aciion.

' 'lhe opration is as follows: Jbe fornace b eing heatecl, the sheets of iron ami ti] box are piaced Witlxin it, the slxeets either iying fiala witlxn che uncovered box, as heretofore sated, or ii not so disposed, ti1en each supported, by an eonrenient means, in somewhat of a vertcal position, the box being also heated at tl1e same time. A After both the sbeets ami box are propcrly heated, abonb so che (legree heretofore Inentioned,ahey are not pnllerl out of 'tlxe fornace nnil che slreets, if separately heated, ixave been piaceri Wtl1intlie box, ami tbe long slirling cover first placeci over l1e sarne.

Wben rhe corer bas been first llooked to che bangers, the box lxas been lrawn out far enonglr to bring tiro slot in the cover H, ami also the iramniers,xli-

rectly over one end otthe top-iying sbeet in ti1e box.

lbe hammeringanacbinery is pub in operation by means of pulley 0, the appropriate pawls fo,r eecling in the right direction, being first put into conneoton -witlx the rack.

'lhe action of the panls canses a reguiar intermite reni: progressive motion to be given to the hangng frame ami the hanuners, Wi1ilst; tl1e revolntion of the shai'i; N, causes tire latter to be rapirlly tripperl.

\Vhen t-be irammers i1ave time traversed fromfiend io emi of the sheets, by mereiy lifting pawis S, ami clropping pawl S, (or vice versa, as the case may be,) t-l1e luinnner-fiame tiaverses in tbereverse direecion, ami this may be continned for any iength of time clesirerl.

Whenever, from the greatermnnber of sheet-s placed at one time in the box, or for any ot-her reason, it may be r.lesirerl to turn the box ami its contained shcets upsirle down, so as to mpart tlxe blows to the opposite sicle ot' the pack oi shcets, tbe knobs, or centres g, npon the hamiles, as heretofinestatecl, aclmit: oi (ioing this witli faclity, by any simple provision which wiil lift the box, by thcse irandles, bgb enough to allow il; to be turne l hall over, or npsirie down, ami thcn piaced upon 'sl1e anvii, to undergo a similar operation et lxa1nmcrirfin The time reqnireci fin the hammering of the sineets may be fii'teen niinutes, more or iess, varyng with che quaiity ami qnanity oi' tl1e iron umier treatment, che.

size or thickness of the sheei-s, or tlie size, power, ami

rapidity of lire blows oi tlre iiaminers.

It is apparent, thai; niunerou; variations ami modificaiions oi' tlxe clescribecl maclrine may be made, \Vitiioutrlepa,rting from the spirit of tl1e inventoncontained therein. For exampie, instead of cansing tlxe frame ami hammers to traverse brward ami back, the box ami contents may be made, or causerl so io traverse by any Wcii-knon'il means. 'llre hannners may also be given a 1ciprocai-ing siriewise traverse, as well as a tixrward ami baclnvard one, or the box may have a sidewise reciproCa'iion, either with or Witl1dut an endwise one. Each'lxammer, also, need not exteml across tl1e breacltir of the sheet, bnt a series of iiannners, ali acting togethel', or in qniek succession, may be used instea l, ami any desired number of hammers may be .employed.

I believe I have thus stated tbe nature ami mode of operation of my invention, so as to enable. others skiiled in tlre artto practise tl1e saune therei'rom.

Wbat I cl-aim, ami ciesire to secure by Letters Patcnt, is-- lhe process for producing a polishecl, or enamelled surface vupon sheet-iron, Substantially as herein de scribed.

Also, a series of antomaticaliy operaced harnmers, acting directiy npon tlxe pack of enclosed sheets, sub= stantially a's riescriberi.

Aiso, a series of automatcaliy-operaiecl hammers, having, in arlrlition, a travelling motion over the i'ace of the materiali io ho treated, substantiaily as set fortln Also, a traveliing frame, for sormortingtlxe hammers, arrangerl to be automaticaliy traverserl forwaul or baclnvard, at wili, substantiaily as set forti].

Aiso, as a container for tlre sheels no-be treated, a metal box, witlr removable bottom, or bottom ami top, arrangecl to be. fastened or clanxped tl1reto, substantiaily as set forth.

Aiso, in combination with the hammers ami che sireet-cmrtaining-box, che slotted cover, arranged t'o perxnit che traversing movement-s ciuring tbe hannnermg, substantialiy'as sefi forti.

GEORGE, W. FRANOIS. s.]

\Vitnessesz A. S. Hozrcmuss, J. E. FIELD. 

